


The Sevilles: Chapter Four-The Edge in Heritage

by Sketchpad



Series: The Sevilles [4]
Category: Alvin and the Chipmunks - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23320972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sketchpad/pseuds/Sketchpad
Summary: When the boys have to participate in a school sports competition, they find out that Vinny has all the right moves to coach them for the event. But, when she agrees to help them only if she can also teach them their people's ways, they wonder if Vinny is pushing them to be the best they can be, or the best *she* can be.
Series: The Sevilles [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1443898
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

One afternoon, after school, The Seville Brothers entered the front yard of their home, with two-thirds of the trio looking glum and pensive, glancing and glaring at the cockily smiling one-third.  
  
They had gotten as far as halfway up the walk before the sound of their mother's voice called out from somewhere above them.  
  
As one, the boys turned their heads to the direction of the tree that grew in the yard and spotted Vinny casually climbing it, anchoring herself to its bosky surface with a barehanded and barefooted grace that belied the strength needed to do so.  
  
"Hi, Mom!" they called back, although Vinny could hear that the greeting sounded...off to her, not ringing with its usual, youthful perk.  
  
It prompted her to ask, "How was school?" The answer was forthcoming.  
  
Theodore was the first to vent his grievance. "There's a competition happening at school in two weeks against another school."  
  
Vinny didn't know what to make of his reaction to that. "So why are you upset?"  
  
"Because Alvin signed us up with him!" Theodore and Simon exclaimed in unison, glaring at their brother again.  
  
"Alvin, why did you do that?" Vinny asked, ascending to a thick branch to rest. "It sounds like they didn't want to do it."  
  
"We're brothers, Mom! We should do everything together," Alvin reasoned with a dismissive shrug. "Besides, how cool will it be when The Seville Boys win first-place awards as a group?"  
  
"Y-You didn't even talk to us about it," Simon charged. "You just signed us up! I could have been doing other things, by then!"  
  
"Were you?"  
  
"No, but that's beside the point!" Simon countered.  
  
"Yeah!" Theodore chimed in, before admitting off-handedly. "Besides, me and sports have a love-hate relationship. I love to watch it, but I hate to do it."  
  
"See? It doesn't sound like your brothers are keen to do it," their mother pointed out. "Can they be removed from the list?"  
  
"No," Simon said, glumly. "Once you've signed in, you have to participate."  
  
Alvin waved the sour mood off. "Don't mind them, Mom. They're just a little nervous, that's all. Anyway, how come you were climbing the tree?"  
  
The non-sequitur question caught Vinny slightly off-guard. "Oh, I was just keeping in shape, that's all."  
  
"You were exercising?" Theodore asked, never knowing his mother to work out, or to do it that way.  
  
"Why yes, dear. Climbing trees is an excellent exercise for Chipmunks. It strengthens muscles, gets the heart pumping, and it keeps you in practice for evading predators."  
  
"Well, I don't know about the 'evading predators' part," Alvin said. "But, you look like a natural at that, and if you're _that_ good at it, then we have to be just as good. C'mon, fellas! Climbing is part of the competition, so let's get started with this."  
  
With trailing sighs and grousing, Simon and Theodore followed Alvin to the tree's base. There, they wrapped their small limbs around its rough girth and began shimmying up its sides with hugging effort.  
  
By the time all three brothers reach the bough their waiting mother was on, they greeted her with grunts and panting. The pained smile, upon seeing them, was both maternal and pitying.  
  
"You boys climb too slow. A wolf could gobble you up in two snaps if he wanted to," she judged.  
  
"Too...slow?" Alvin huffed.  
  
Vinny nodded. "Too slow...and too Human."  
  
"But," Simon gasped. "We've always climbed like that."  
  
"That is why you fail," Vinny said, calmly.  
  
"I knew this was going to end badly for us," Theodore sulked.  
  
Vinny sidled off the branch, and said, on her way down the tree, "Come down, boys. I'll show you a better way."  
  
With her sons gathered by the tree's roots, Vinny explained. "The reason why you're so slow is that you're not using your gifts!"  
  
The confusion in her sons' eyes prompted her to hold up her hand towards them, palm-up, to clarify. "Look carefully at my fingers."  
  
When they did what she bade, they saw something curious. Too small to be noticed, at first blush, were closed slits on the tips of each finger and thumb. Vinny, then tightened her hand, as if she were trying to squeeze something hard, and then, the curved, translucent points of tiny claws peeked from out of the slits.  
  
The boys were flabbergasted and sounded as much.  
  
"Whoa! D-Do we have those, too, Mom?" Alvin blurted out, totally impressed, as Vinny nodded.  
  
"The bottom of your toes have the same," she explained.  
  
"You _have_ to be our coach!" Alvin shouted. "You can teach us how to climb like a Chipmunk and everything!" For once, that day, his brothers wholeheartedly agreed with him.  
  
Vinny looked a little skeptical, at that. Time didn't seem to favor them. "But, didn't you say that the event is in two weeks? I can do what I do because I've been doing it all of my life. I don't know if I can teach you all I know in that short a time."  
  
Never one to take no for an answer, Alvin fell to his knees, his brothers following suit, as they begged by her bare feet.  
  
"Please, Mom! You can do it! Please! You're our only hope!" he shamelessly wailed with Simon and Theodore on backup.  
  
Inside, Vinny's skepticism turned into true indecision. Pragmatically, she knew that it was the right call to say that she didn't have time to teach them, fully. Yet, the mother in her wanted to teach them the life lessons and skills that served their species for so long. In the end, she decided, it was her maternal duty to pass on this knowledge to the next generation who currently knelt before her.  
  
"All right, boys," she acquiesced with a sigh. "I'll try and teach you as much as I can before the competition."  
  
The ring of cheers that came almost drowned out her stipulation that they would start tomorrow, but if they didn't get the message, she would tell them again when they calmed down.  
  


* * *

  
  
The next day, Dave stood by the open front door with a cup a coffee in hand, getting some air. Seeing his sons coming up the walk, he greeted them with his lifted cup, as they came home after school. Taking another sip, he wondered why the boys were looking both dismayed and embarrassed, as well as barefoot, on the way to the house.  
  
"Fellas," he asked. "Where are your shoes?"  
  
Theodore sighed. "We were practicing extending our foot claws all day, under our shoes and socks, and we wound up shredding them up."  
  
"Okay," a confused Dave said slowly, as he followed them into the house.  
  
Taking his ease back on the couch to watch television in the living room beside Vinny, Dave noticed the boys rush upstairs, and then, a few moments later, back down, after acquiring another pair of intact footwear.  
  
At that point, Vinny stood from the couch as Alvin, Simon, and Theodore gathered around her, eagerly, while Dave curiously watched them.  
  
"We're ready, Mom!" said Simon. "What's our first lesson?"  
  
"All right," Vinny instructed. "This lesson will protect you in case you're ever ambushed by a predator."  
  
"A predator?" Dave asked, not noticing Vinny taking a deep breath, or understanding why their conversation was taking that turn. "Vinny, fellas, what's going on?"  
  
A sustained, high-pitched squeak, almost reaching into the ultrasonic range, exploded from Vinny, as she projected as hard as she physically could into it. It was the rodent equivalent of a terror scream, but with infinitely more power than a common chipmunk could muster.  
  
To the boys, it merely startled them. For Dave, it caused a slight discomfort, ratcheting his confusion up even more.  
  
To the glass vase that sat in the center of the living table, the reaction was more extreme. The frequency of Vinny's cry caused it to vibrate so perfectly, that it succumbed to those very vibrations and shattered across the tabletop.  
  
"Vinny!" Dave shouted in dismay, as he stood and she caught her breath.  
  
"Uh-oh, Mom's in trouble, now!" Theodore fretted.  
  
Simon, however, was too moved by the science of what just happened. "Incredible! A focused, compressed, high-frequency cry! I had no idea that we could do that!"  
  
"Neither did Dave," Alvin muttered, knowing that look in their father's eyes all too well. "We better beat it before we're stuck having to do clean up!"  
  
With that, the boys angled for the staircase, and then, bolted up them.  
  
Still catching her breath underneath Dave's concerned glower, Vinny explained. "I'm sorry, Dave. I...I was trying to teach the boys our Chipmunk ways before the school competition in two weeks. They're so sure it will help them win."  
  
Dave's expression softened with understanding, at last. "You know that I don't mind the boys knowing more about their heritage, Vinny, but do you think a crash course will help them?"  
  
Once again, Vinny's pragmatism spoke up, within her, triggered by Dave's all-too-reasonable query. And once again, her maternal heart rose to counter the argument.  
  
"I have to, Dave," Vinny answered, a concerned and determined furrow in her brows. "I've been out of their lives for too long and I've been shamefully neglectful in teaching them our ways. That has to end."  
  
She calmed herself upon seeing the glittering wreckage she wrought. "But, don't worry, Dave. I'll give them their lessons outdoors, from now on. Er...after I clean up this mess," she avowed to him, sheepishly.


	2. Chapter 2

As Vinny had promised, the following days proved to be rigorous, as she chose times when the neighborhood was mostly quiet to teach them about honing and focusing their senses of hearing and smell, seeking out those elusive notes of ambient sound from their surroundings.   
  
Success led to the boys being surprisingly and painfully overwhelmed with the sounds of a neighbor calling his mutt via a dog whistle and their noses eventually deaf from the scents of everything else nearby, from doggy-doo, open garbage cans, and grass clippings to cat markings and a late afternoon bar-b-que.  
  
After a few days, she decided to work on their already youthful stamina, reflexes and reaction speed by having them simply play tag with her throughout the neighborhood. If they could catch her without getting tired then, theoretically, they should be ready for the event.  
  
Finally, the school sporting event was a day away day, and during one of the boys' after-school sessions, The Chipettes, from the front porch of their home, next door, curiously spied their progress and tried to listen in on what was happening.   
  
"Hello, girls," Vinny greeted after noticing the girls while she took a break from evading her sons for the third time. "I'm just training the boys to be better Chipmunks."  
  
"Well, Alvin _does_ need all the help he can get," Brittany quipped.  
  
"I can improve your abilities, too, if you like," the adult Chipmunk offered without missing a beat.  
  
That threw Brittany off-guard from her humor. "Abilities? Like what? Superpowers or something?" she asked.  
  
"No, no. Your _natural_ abilities," Vinny amended. "Believe it or not, you girls need to know such things. For example, did you know that we females would test the strength of a potential mate by how fast it took to catch her?"  
  
Intrigued by that factoid, the sisters huddled together into a quiet conference. While Vinny waited for a reply, her sons gathered beside her, curious as to whom she was speaking to.  
  
Upon seeing Alvin's approach, Brittany smirked and spoke for her sisters, at last.  
  
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a little training under our belts. We might even inspire the boys to do better." She gave a playful glance at Alvin, who caught it, immediately. "All the other girls in school are like low-hanging fruit to him. Goodness knows he needs a challenge."  
  
"Put your money where your mouth is, Britt," Alvin retorted.  
  
"I think you'vejust been _challenged_ , girls," Vinny said, coyly, doing her part to prick their collective sense of competition a little.  
  
"You're on!" Brittany responded, dragging her more or less reluctant sisters from the porch and into yet another battle-of-the-sexes with her boyfriend.  
  
Gathered around Vinny, she gave them the rules.  
  
"You girls will pair up with the boys and try to catch me. Use teamwork. Use your strengths. This is as much an exercise in _that_ as it is in agility," she said, pointing over to Alvin and Brittany. "You two will be first."  
  
"Try to keep up, Brittany," Alvin condescended while he stretched along with his partner. "Mom's pretty quick and I don't want to have to wait for you."  
  
"Don't worry about me. I'll be right with you. But, if you need a _really_ fast girl, I'm sure you know a few," Brittany sniped back.  
  
"Now, now, you two!" Vinny chided as she walked ahead of them by few yards. "You have to work together. Now, wait until I give the signal, then come after me."  
  
She stopped off to the side of a row of parked cars on the other side of the street and smiled when she saw Brittany and her son working out a quick strategy of attack, their heads charmingly close to each other.  
  
Putting pleasant thoughts of their young relationship aside, Vinny called out to them. "Are you ready?"  
  
"Ready!" came the unison response, the remaining Chipmunks and Chipettes watching the contest in both interest and analysis for when their time came.  
  
"Now!"  
  
Both kids bolted from the yard, and then, as Vinny figured, they split up, with Alvin charging forward and drawing attention on him, as was his nature, and clever Brittany breaking off and crossing the street to cut the stationary adult's avenue of escape in a swift pincer movement.  
  
Judging their approach with well-practiced spatial awareness, Vinny saw that Brittany had to run faster than Alvin to get into position behind her to cut her off. If she still resolved not to move, it wouldn't be long before capture. So, she decided to use their speed against them.  
  
Vinny bounded onto the closest parked car in the row, and then, as they were forced to change tact, transferred to the next parked car in their direction, with a leap.  
  
Doing so closed the distance between them all, and forced Alvin and Brittany to veer and angle-in towards the car Vinny now stood on, to intercept. But, all Vinny did, afterward, was stand and watch them home in on her.  
  
"Now!" Brittany yelled, hopping on its trunk while Alvin ascended the front bumper and hood, arm outstretched to finally tag his mother in triumph.  
  
The briefest smirk twitched from Vinny as she waited a hair's-breadth from contact to jump to the side and landed on the sidewalk. The kids, already leaping for the capture, couldn't hope to stop or change direction, and thus, promptly collided and piled in a heap on the roof.  
  
"Now?" grumbled Alvin from underneath Brittany. "I thought you had her. _You_ were closer."  
  
"I thought you did. It was _your_ plan." Brittany groused.  
  
Vinny sauntered over to the car to address them with a maternal smile. "And it was a good one. Nothing fancy, but the lesson here is observation, that some predators simply charge after their prey and simply outmaneuvering them is best."  
  
And so it went with the next pair attempting to catch the wily Vinny.   
  
During Simon and Jeanette's turn, Vinny was asked to wait in the house for half an hour. When Vinny was finally let out, the duo quietly smiled to her and each other, their poker faces extending no further than that.   
  
Walking past them, Vinny knew that the bookish pair had done something while she had to wait indoors. She waited in the middle of the empty street, and when she gave the signal to begin, both kids didn't run, but instead, began to step away from each other, essentially doing what their predecessors had done-split up, but here, they did so to spread out and cover the distance. Then, they engaged.  
  
The question of what they had done was still nagging at Vinny as she jogged ahead of her pursuers. The distance between them was fairly wide and, in fact, stayed that way as she noted that they were far too slow in comparison to their respective brother and sister. What were they waiting for? What were they playing at?  
  
Jeanette, from her flanking position, suddenly sped up her pace, approached from a widened arc, and closed in on Vinny.   
  
Vinny, for her part, couldn't backtrack to where to she had been because Simon, still jogging from far behind, had the space to keep her in view and angle for an intercept if she tried the tactic.  
  
They learned from Alvin and Brittany's failure of the earlier pincer, obviously, and with patience, had refined it, somehow. Yet, something was off because Jeanette just as suddenly slowed to a jog again when Vinny veered towards a nearby lawn to avoid her.  
  
The girl purposely didn't follow through on the intercept. It was puzzling. There was the intent, but it wasn't a chase. To Vinny, it felt too...controlled.   
  
Out of habit, she homed in on the safety of the lawn's sole tree, hoping to lose them in its canopy, and on focusing on her ascent, one of her feet brushed against a coil of garden hose lying by the tree's roots.  
  
Hidden high in the tree's canopy, a bent branch was secured to one end of the garden hose. The coil's slight movement caused the branch's anchor to release, straightening the strong bough and releasing its potential energy like a catapult. The tied snare of hose buried underneath the rest of the innocuous coil snatched the empty air by her foot and yanked up like a whip.  
  
After settling from the initial shock, it finally clicked with Vinny. The little devils weren't running to catch, they were flanking to drive her into whatever part of the street they seeded with disguised, kitbashed booby traps.  
  
Again, using their strengths against them was what Vinny felt comfortable with, and so, she played a little memory test with herself.  
  
Rounding the tree, she thought back to what the block looked like when she tested Alvin and Brittany, seeing the parked cars and the empty street. They were still there, and she fretted, not seeing anything else out of the ordinary. If more traps waited, the children hid them well.  
  
Except for the one that failed to catch her earlier. Inspired by that, she knew that they had revealed their hand, their surprise was gone and now had to be the time to turn the tables on them.  
  
"Rats!" Simon exclaimed, joining up with Jeanette to simply chase her into their next pitfalls. "I was certain that would catch her."  
  
"Don't worry, Simon. We can always get her by the trash cans," Jeanette consoled.  
  
They bore down on Vinny, who was running ahead of them alongside the parked cars on the block, and collectively wondered what her game was.   
  
Vinny maintained her speed as she stayed by the side of the vehicles down the street, actually looking for a specific one, parked by a specific house.  
  
Her eyes caught sight of it, at last. A well-maintained, pristine, black pick-up truck that, to her stature, was imposing.  
  
Dave once told her about a neighbor who proved his ex-girlfriend right when she said that he loved his truck more than her. Vinny hoped that it was a love that never died.  
  
Bearing towards the truck at what looked like a suicidal charge, she braced herself and jumped into the broad, black driver's side door, which confused Simon and Jeanette thoroughly.  
  
A piercing wail of a car alarm shrieked from the truck as Vinny rebounded hard from the door, recovered on the street, and then, flew up the side of a tree that grew from the nearby sidewalk. Her pursuers came to a stop, perplexed.  
  
From the front door of the house that the truck was parked in front of, a mountain of a man, wearing boots and a brass buckle as big as he was, stomped out to the concern of his beloved vehicle's cry for help, and saw two tiny, bespectacled kids standing, suspiciously, near his truck.  
  
"Why, h-hello there, Mr. Riggs, sir," Jeanette nervously greeted the man, whose reputation concerning his love for all things vehicular, proceeded him.  
  
"Why is my truck makin' that noise?" Riggs asked with seemingly calm menace.  
  
"I-I can assure you, Mr. Riggs. We have no idea why its car alarm is on, sir," Simon tried to placate over the synthetic din. "However, I could hazard a guess and say that the truck's battery could be draining, or there's a short in the electrical-"  
  
Riggs pointed his key chain, thick and ringing with its charges, pressed a device that looked tiny in between his meaty fingers, and the truck was calmed with a two-toned chirp.  
  
"Git," was Riggs' one command and the kids followed it dutifully and with haste.  
  
Later, upon meeting up with her son and Jeanette back home, Vinny gave an apologetic look and matched it with words.  
  
"I'm sorry I've gotten you in trouble with Mr. Riggs, back there. I talked to him and explained what happened. Suffice it to say, he was still none too happy with my little bump against his truck," she said.  
  
"No kidding, Mom," Alvin concurred. "I hope you didn't put a dent on his baby, or he'd have turned you into a buff shammy."  
  
"I'm not sure what that is," Vinny admitted. "But, I'll assume is not good. In any event, Simon and Jeanette, you've truly impressed me with your traps out there. I was thrown for a loop until I needed to stop you from chasing me."  
  
"Hence, the run-in with Mr. Riggs," Simon concluded. "Rather cunning, in a ruthless sort of way."  
  
"I have to admit, Vinny," Jeanette praised. "We didn't see that coming."  
  
"That was the idea, dear," Vinny explained to them. "When hunted, never do what the hunter expects. Although Humans and Chipmunks do get along, some Humans will try to hunt us. Out-smarting such a hunter is key."  
  
Simon and Jeanette stood where they were, and while they were deep in thought concerning such things as survival and how far one was willing to go to maintain it, Vinny turned to a waiting Theodore and Eleanor.  
  
"Alright, dears. How will you try and catch me?"  
  
"No problem," Eleanor said, cockily. "You have to be tired by now, so Theodore and I'll just tag you, and be home in time for dinner."  
  
At the mention of dinner, Theodore's face visibly showed the thrill of the chase dying a quick death, supplanted with eager notions of consumption, which gave Vinny an idea.  
  
"Theodore, if you say 'Eleanor and I surrender,' I'll let you have some cookies I bought from the store," Vinny offered.  
  
Eleanor whipped her head around to face the boy. "Theodore, you better not-"  
  
"Eleanor and I surrender!" Vinny's son announced as visions of cookies and milk dancing in his head.  
  
"Ugh, Theodore!" the girl groaned. "Why did you say that? We could have caught her."  
  
Unperturbed, Theodore placated her with a grin. "Don't worry, Eleanor. I'll give you half."  
  
The sudden thought of enjoying such a sweet repast did much in dulling the edge of her annoyance. With a sigh, Eleanor acquiesced to the new deal. Then, she turned back to Vinny.  
  
"Well, that was pretty sneaky. What kind of lesson was that?"  
  
Vinny answered with a smug, tactical smirk. "The best lesson of all, my dear. Know thy enemy."

* * *

The clouds above the neighborhood glowed warmly as the sun descended, providing a sedate yet almost mystical setting for Vinny and her attentive charges.  
  
Lounging on a blanket that was laid out upon the lawn, she recited folk tales, life lessons, and other bits of Chipmunk culture and history that she could remember, appreciative that the children only interrupted her, on occasion, not to debate, but to ask questions on the subject.  
  
The kids, for their part, got to rest and enjoy each other's company in what amounted to what felt like a camp-like atmosphere. Only a cozy fire to gather around was missing.  
  
Vinny settled into a more comfortable position on the blanket and was about to recount another tale when she spied Alvin looking visibly vexed.  
  
"Alvin," said Vinny. "What's wrong, dear?"  
  
Alvin stopped his silent glaring at the grass to notice every eye now focused on him and his glowering. This was a form of attention he wasn't to keen on, but he had to own up to it. With a sigh, he explained.  
  
"Mom, don't think we haven't enjoyed your stories and all, especially about those two star-crossed lovers, Elias and Eva, but what does this have to do with the event tomorrow?"  
  
"Why, it doesn't, dear," Vinny answered matter-of-factly.  
  
"Exactly! Why do we need to know all of this? Unless there's a history test in it that we're not aware of, it won't help us win the event."  
  
Vinny's voice, usually maternal and even-tempered, hardened, if only a little. "Alvin, I didn't just teach you all to win some contest. You should know who you are and where you come from. That's important, if not more so."  
  
Her son waved it off. "We know who we are, already. We're Chipmunks. We just need you to help us with the event, that's all."  
  
Vinny's hands became tight fists and she couldn't tell what aggravated her more-her son's foolish, youthful arrogance, or seeing that arrogance claim the youths around her because she failed them in some way. It didn't take long for her to decide on which one.  
  
"No, that is not all!" she exclaimed, pointedly at Alvin, but wanting all and sundry to hear, as well. "I didn't just teach you our ways just to win. I wanted to make you all better Chipmunks. I did this...because you should have known all of this sooner, but I...was never there to teach you. I want to make up for that so you'll know our history, our culture. Please, don't turn your backs on it."  
  
The passion of her speech moved the children, but, it was Brittany who was moved to speak as the peacemaker.  
  
"No one, here, wants to turn their backs on anything you showed us today, Vinny," she placated. "But, don't you feel that, maybe, you're being a little too strict with this? Maybe it's just a little too much to handle all at once, y'know?"  
  
Eleanor spoke next, in support of her sister. "Yeah, you don't want to be called a Tiger Mom, do you?"  
  
Vinny looked at the Chipette, confused. "Why on Earth would that happen? I'm a Chipmunk. Besides, if a tiger is the best he is in the jungle, you can thank his _mother_ for that."   
  
"But-" Vinny cut off any more of Brittany's debate.  
  
"You and your sisters don't have to be here, if you don't want to, Brittany," Vinny decided with a hard tone and even harder resolve. "If you're comfortable being who you are, I can't stop you. But, I refuse to be the only mother who didn't bring her children up _right!_ "  
  
The timing was perfect. The sun had finally set both in the sky and on their collective mood, and although the sky wasn't cloudy, a veritable storm was brewing between children and the adult.  
  
"Mom!" Theodore whispered in shock at her outburst. Simon was simply stunned into silence.  
  
"What are you trying to say? That Miss Miller's not good enough for us?" Brittany asked Vinny, standing in fiery defiance. Vast generational gap, notwithstanding, no one impugned their mother and got away with it.  
  
However, it was a solemn Jeanette, hating how the day now ended, who ended up being the peacemaker for the evening, as she stood with Eleanor and putting a calming hand to Brittany's arm.  
  
"We _are_ comfortable being who we are, Vinny," she defended in a sedate, yet firm voice, controlling her indignation. "We're Miss Miller's daughters. We're happy and that's good enough for us."  
  
She told her sisters, "Let's get back," before nodding to the boys. "We'll see you around, guys."  
  
As the brothers and mother watched the Millers walk across the lawn and back to their home for the night, Alvin stood up next and faced a visibly chagrined Vinny.  
  
Her behavior shocked her to the point that she couldn't even call out to the girls to apologize, not that it could salve the situation any.  
  
Looking haggard, she inwardly burned in her earned self-excoriation. Her eyes reflected the vicious beating she was giving herself for her lack of self-control, of tact, of...everything. How could she say that she upheld her vaunted, positive values when she, so quickly, treated her sons' friends so rashly?   
  
It was an inner torment Alvin hadn't noticed or cared to. All he desired was to get something off of his chest.   
  
"Y'know, I know a little something about competition," he said, icily imparting his wisdom to her. "And I think you just wanted to win one of your own. Well, don't worry, Mom, your Mother of the Year award's in the mail."  
  
And with that, he marched into the house, fuming.  
  
The rest of his brothers sat, uncomfortably, around their silent mother, while she still endured the torture of being slowly crushed under a ton of her guilt.

* * *

  
She was secretly grateful that the boys elected to stay in their bedroom while she cooked dinner, later that evening, although, she couldn't face them long enough to make the plates.   
  
And so, Vinny slunk back to the guest bedroom and sat on her bed, too emotionally exhausted to face them, yet, or to beat herself up, once more. She just wanted to sleep, to forget about the efforts and the mistakes of the day and, somehow, move on.  
  
Still, even as she closed her weary eyes, a tear slipped free and the shame of her foolishness returned to haunt her like a quiet, vengeful spirit.  
  
A soft knock came from the closed door, prompting Vinny to wipe her red eyes dry and recite the message she had rehearsed in her mind when her sons would ask if dinner was ready.  
  
"I-I'm coming, boys," she stammered. "I just wanted to sit down for a moment."  
  
"Vinny?" came Dave's voice from the other side, actually relieving her. "It's me, Dave. May I come in?"  
  
"Yes," came the weak entreaty. The man stepped into the room and could almost feel the melancholy, like a temperature change.  
  
"Vinny, are you alright? What's wrong?"  
  
"You were right, Dave," she quietly admitted to the floor. "You were so right about me."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
She lifted her face to explain, yet still couldn't face him, fully. "I was so caught up in making the boys learn about our heritage, that I not only got them mad at me, but I even drove The Chipettes away. I made a mess of things, just like I did with the vase, but I can't help it. I'm so...afraid of failing them as a mother."  
  
"You are not a failure, Vinny," Dave told her. "You're doing the best you can."  
  
Vinny shook her head, disbelievingly, against Dave's support. "Am I trying too hard, Dave? How did you do it? What am I doing wrong?"  
  
She felt the mattress dip as Dave sat beside her, putting a strong arm around her, comfortingly. Her body reflexively leaned against his, seeking rest from regrets that drained her, deeply.   
  
"Vinny, it's not a competition," Dave spoke into her hair. "You're not being judged on how good a mother you are, and there's no secret to being a good parent, believe me. All you have to do is love them and be there for them. It's as simple as that."  
  
"I know. I know," Vinny sighed, softly. "I can't believe that as old as I am, I still have to figure it all out."  
  
"We all do," he told her, sagely. Then, he leaned in closer and slyly asked, "How old _are_ you, by the way?''  
  
She gasped his cheek for asking such a question, giving him a gentle, punitive shove that made her forget her current troubles. "Never you mind, David Seville," she defended with an incredulous and unbidden giggle.  
  
Just the response he wanted to bring out in her. "Feel better?" he asked with a warm smile.  
  
She smiled to herself, self-conscious, but thankful for his company. "I do. Thank you."  
  
"Any time," Dave said. "Remember, we're _both_ parents to those little monsters, back there, but you'll never have to do it alone."  
  
There was such promise in those words, she suddenly knew. A partnership she didn't have to look out for or think about. It was uncomplicated and unspoken, as it should be.  
  
"Thank you, Dave," she quietly said again, communicating everything she felt in a grateful hug around his broad body. "Oh, could you do me a favor? Could you serve dinner tonight? I just want to go to bed early. The boys' sporting event is tomorrow and I know that I have a lot of apologizing to do."  
  
"No problem," Dave said, standing and walking to the door. "You get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."


	3. Chapter 3

Theodore puffed in decreasing exhaustion next to his brothers on the bench in the school gymnasium. The chamber rang with the cheers of family and well-wishers, among them, Dave, Vinny, and The Chipettes, pushing their favored athlete to victory.  
  
Red, rubber balls were rapidly removed from the basketball, now dodgeball, court after that part of the sports competition had come to a nail-biting end, with Theodore's team edging out a win through a combination of his last-minute evasion and a fellow teammate's catch and game-ending return shot.  
  
He watched as technicians were setting up the final course of the event, a broad climbing wall dotted with colored plastic hand and footholds when he jumped slightly after an arriving Alvin and Simon gave him congratulatory slaps on the back.  
  
"Man, and I thought Simon was dancin' on that outdoor obstacle course!" Alvin crowed.  
  
"Well done, Theodore!" affirmed Simon.  
  
"Thanks, you guys," their brother beamed. "I guess Mom's training really _did_ help, after all."  
  
Theodore's fading adrenaline high was still potent enough for him to take in the echoing adulations of the crowd, yet missed the slight shift of his brothers' mood upon mentioning their mother.  
  
On the other side of the court, reserved for the rival school, a lean, greying coach, scanning the high wall with a predator's eye, took his student, a lanky, agile boy and a winner in two of the earlier events, aside.  
  
"Are you wearing the harness I got for you?" he asked under his breath.  
  
"Yeah," said the boy. "I'm wearing it, but what about the one the official gave me earlier? What's wrong with that one?"  
  
"I checked it out. It's way too heavy for you. It'll just weigh you down. This one is much lighter, so you can fly up that wall, son."  
  
"Oh, okay! Thanks, Coach!"  
  
"No, son. Thank you. You pulled out two wins for our school already. This one will clinch it for us!"  
  
The echoed shrill of a referee's whistle signaled the start of the event and drew the boy's attention to the towering battlefield that stood in the center of the now cleared court.  
  
"Okay, Coach, I gotta go. Wish me luck out there!" He was gone a moment later.  
  
Despite the clear hunger for victory in the coach's eyes, he spared time to quietly wish his son good luck.  
  
Alvin trotted to the base of the wall in time to see his opponent reach it with equally cocky aplomb. A spared glance shot between both competitors to size each other up, and then, they both raised their heads to study the monster before them that they had to slay while tethers were connected to their harnesses.  
  
"Take your positions!" the referee commanded and the boys faced the wall.  
  
At the sound of the whistle and the spectators' cheers, the two leaped at the wall, eager hands and feet finding purchase on each plastic hold.  
  
Alvin, for all of his exertion, found himself gaining little ground, as his opponent, being taller with longer limbs, had a significant edge on him. An edge that saw him reach the halfway point on the wall, with Alvin close behind.  
  
Fear of losing forced Alvin to try a different tact. He mentally tried to block out the noise of the echoing cheers and focus on the climb, questioning how his mother might have attacked this wall to gain more distance. By then, however, his rival had entered the halfway point in his path to victory.  
  
Alvin chanced to glance over at him to see how close he was to the top and noticed something from his proximity to him. Whatever fatigue was haunting the Chipmunk, it had clearly made its home in the other competitor, who was now breathing harder and slowing down with less confidence in taking hand and footholds.  
  
 _'He's running out of steam!'_ Alvin thought, using the situation to rally his strength and push ahead, now passing the Human, as he ascended.  
  
His rival, for his part, managed to gasp to himself, "I-I...can't..." as he heard the coach, over the crowds below, yelling for him to push on.  
  
Just then, his weight-supporting hand, its palm slick with sweat, slipped from the surface of a hold above him. He couldn't find another in time and fell a few feet before his tether caught him.  
  
Fear of the fall made his eyes widen, allowing sweat from his ruddy face to trickle into them, burning them. Not long after, in the stinging near-blindness, a new horror had come to him, he felt himself slowly descend again as the connection between the light harness and tether began to tear and come apart from the sudden arrest.  
  
The pain in his eyes, along with the exertion from the climb and prior events, and the chance of continuing his fall once the harness gave out, was torturous. He managed to feel and find a nearby hold to grab, making his well-wishers in the stands think he was getting back into the fight.  
  
But, with his eyes half-closed, he was disoriented, too tired to continue, and too blind to return to the floor safely. Trapped in this Goldilocks Zone of agony, he called out to the referee for help, but against the reverberating overenthusiasm of the crowd, his voice was as a whisper.  
  
Not to Alvin, however, whose sharper ears picked up the plea, just as he neared the top. Looking down, he saw that the Human was hung up by the middle of the wall, trying to wipe at his stinging eyes with a free hand while he held on to a single hold with the other.  
  
Not understanding why the boy didn't just descend on his line, the young Chipmunk also didn't waste time debating the call for help.  
  
"Hang on! I'll get you!" yelled Alvin over the din, which then changed from loud cheers into confused murmurs, as he descended as fast as caution allowed, to the other boy's position.  
  
The Human boy tilted his head to the sound of Alvin approaching.  
  
"Are you alright?" the Chipmunk asked.  
  
"Tired...sweat got in my eyes...a-and I think my harness is torn!" the rival reported with a panicked timbre. "I have to get down!"  
  
"I've got you. Reach out and grab my shoulders. I'll carry you."  
  
Knowing that his competitor was a Chipmunk, it wasn't hard to work out issues of size and strength against Alvin. "Are you sure? I won't be too heavy for you?"  
  
"Hey, you ain't heavy. You're my competition," Alvin nervously quipped at the nagging notion of him or his harness not being able to handle the extra weight and the both of them falling to the laminated pinewood below. If something could lessen the burden of carrying the new load, like pitons, or cleats...  
  
 _Or claws._  
  
"I hope this works, Mom," Alvin muttered under his breath as he pushed his shoes off with his feet and clenched his fingers and toes around the holds they held, pushing the tiny claws free from them.  
  
After giving them an experimental tug against the supports to test their purchase, he called over to the other boy, once satisfied. "Okay, climb over!"  
  
Slightly confused, the boy reluctantly let go of the only thing keeping his fraying harness from collapsing faster than it was and flailed his hand in Alvin's general direction until he mercifully touched the pup's shoulder. Reflexively, he gripped it and he pulled himself over to grab the other shoulder.  
  
"Okay, slowly we go," Alvin anxiously told the boy and himself, his claws settling in to take the brunt of the added weight pulling against them as he carefully released and re-engaged his grasp on lower and lower holds while they descended.  
  
As this drama played out against the wall, the spectators, with dawning understanding, returned to their cheering, this time in favor of the timely rescue instead of the competition.  
  
By the time the duo reached the bottom, they were greeted by the referee, both school coaches, The Chipettes, and Alvin's family.  
  
Before Alvin could explain what had happened, he was quickly swallowed up in Dave and Vinny's bearhug.  
  
"Alvin, are you alright?" Dave asked, breathlessly.  
  
"We were so worried when you helped that boy down!" Vinny said to him, trying to banish the thought of losing her son this day.  
  
"I couldn't have done it without you, Mom," the pup admitted with a grateful smile. "Those lessons you taught me really came in handy. Thanks."  
  
Meanwhile, the boy was getting crushed by the hug of his equally grateful coach. Now, that the danger had passed, the boy looked into his father's eyes, but he saw only regret, not relief.  
  
"Dad," asked the boy. "What's wrong?"  
  
"The harness I gave you. It almost killed you," he confessed to him. "I wanted you to win so much, that I went around the officials to make it happen. I'm so sorry that I did this to you."  
  
"It's okay, Dad, but I didn't win. What's going to happen, now?"  
  
The referee, who had been listening to the exchange, explained. "Now, your team gets disqualified due to you not using the regulation safety equipment provided."  
  
The coach stood before the official without hesitation. "Wait," he said, knowing that his next words would lash him. "I was the one who gave him the harness. I endangered his life and I'm sorry I did that. I'll take the punishment for the team, but please, don't disqualify them. They worked hard and should, at least, keep the victories they earned."  
  
The referee considered the man's plea. After everything that had happened, he was inclined to agree to the assessment that the kids shouldn't have to share in the punishment of an overly zealous coach.  
  
However, he knew, that wasn't his call to make. "Let's talk to the judges about this, so they can make a final judgment on the matter. Your school may just suspend you for a while in exchange for clemency for your team."  
  
Thankful for such a reasonable penalty, the coach sighed his thanks as he and his son followed the man to the judges' table.  
  
As The Chipettes, The Sevilles, and Vinny remained by the wall, she maneuvered herself to face the children, contrition etched deep in her otherwise soft face.  
  
"Boys, girls, I have something to say," Vinny said. "I'm sorry for what I said and did to you yesterday."  
  
She focused her gaze on her sons. "I shouldn't have forced our culture on you. I didn't consider that all of this was new to you, or that it was coming too fast to handle. You were right. I was hoping that this would make me a better mother in your eyes. All it did was do the opposite."  
  
Her pups, as one, moved in to give her a forgiving hug.  
  
"No, you're our mother, which still makes you the best mother," Alvin said, softly. "Besides, I was just as much of a jerk to you, Mom. I could have taken what you taught us more seriously instead of obsessing over the sports event. I'm sorry, too."  
  
Vinny didn't know what made her more proud of her son, just then, his unprompted rescue or the admission of his failings to her. All she could do was end the debate by lovingly tightening her hug on them.  
  
After they released each other, Vinny turned to The Chipettes. Her admissions were far from over.  
  
"Girls, I'm so sorry for what I said to you yesterday," she said to them with her head slightly bowed in reminiscent shame.  
  
Brittany waved it away. "That's okay, Vinny. We know that you didn't mean it."  
  
"No, girls," Vinny maintained. "You are Miss Miller's daughters. I had no right to belittle the happiness that she gives you, any more than I could belittle Dave for taking care of the boys in my absence. It was very wrong of me and I hope that you will forgive me for my foolishness."  
  
Eleanor acquitted her with a friendly shrug. "No problem. Your heart was in the right place."  
  
"Maybe," Vinny said, not so quick to absolve herself. "I thought I was teaching you all something, but you taught me that it's better just to be a good person than just being a Chipmunk."  
  
"I think you just proved that yourself, Vinny," Jeanette told her, as she and her sisters moved closer to her and by way of forgiveness, the boys and girls give her an understanding embrace.  
  
Within the mutual cuddle, Vinny happily considered that maybe there was hope for her, yet.  
  
  
***To Be Continued***


End file.
